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Where I Keep My Stash

1.15.2016

Hello, my name is Kim and I just may be am a hoarder. Here is the definition for hoarder from dictionary.com.

a supply or accumulation that is hidden or carefully guarded for preservation, future use, etc.

I don't think anything is carefully guarded, but I certainly have it put away for future use. Or more like hidden away until I get rid of most of it.

Many of you have asked where do I keep all my stuff or my stash?
Well, today is your day.

First we will start in the foyer. Inside this beautiful chest that I bought in France three years ago is a big mess. Think junk drawer times ten.

I told y'all it isn't pretty. I wish I was an organized person, but I'm not. I think some are born with that gene, but it skipped me.

When I change vignettes and things up it is just so easy to open these doors and cram things in and this is just one cabinet.
You can leave now if you don't want to see more.

This is my gorgeous antique vaisselier and my favorite piece in my home that I purchased locally several years ago.

It took me no time at all to stuff it, too. Those chandy shades have not been used in years and need to go to the consignment store.

Books, picture frames, a runner, trophies, figurines and more. Oh, and our family photo albums are in there somewhere.

The bad part about having guest rooms and extra furnishings is they become more places for my stuff. This chest is full, but mostly with sheets that do get used on the beds.

This is the closet. It is full of bedding, pillows, my clothes, and even some things left here that were my daughter's when she lived here. She is 35 now and the stuff needs to go.

These pillows will be used again so they sit and wait.

I have shared before that these baskets are full of pillow covers and other things.

This is the closet in the farmhouse style guest room. Pillows get rotated in and out.

Are y'all still here and thinking less and less of me?

The armoire that used to be stacked neatly is another big mess. It's just so easy to stuff it in and close those doors.

The bonus room stayed rather neat for awhile and then I slowly junked it up again. I am hoping to paint this room this year so this room will definitely need to be cleaned out.

My outdoor cushions landed in here.

My old breakfast room table is still here and chairs just sit here.

And we added these shelves in the utility room off our garage when I cleaned out the bonus room and moved those things that I kept here and then much more has been added until these shelves are overflowing.

On the wall across from the shelving are tubs. These are mostly seasonal things and Christmas decorations.

So looks can be very deceitful and now you know it's not all pretty inside. I am a big believer in never judging a book by its cover.

I am going to tackle this mess this year room by room. I already took bags and bags and car loads to GoodWill last year. Very good write offs for our taxes. I'll be taking much more plus some things will go to a consignment store or two because it literally made me sick while I was taking these pictures.

Please tell me I'm not the only one with stuff crammed behind closed doors.

143 comments:

Seriously this post made me giggle. Isn't it easy to cram stuff into a unused space? I love to reorganize. It makes me giddy. However when life gets busy, areas become dumping grounds. First of the summer I decided to clean out and donate and in doing so donated our wedding pictures by mistake!😳 Can I tell you how sick I was when I realized that months later?!

Oh Kim, you make me laugh! I am an organized person but I still have a few spots crammed and jammed with stuff that really needs to go! I am definitely not judging, in fact all I could see is all the great stuff you have to rotate in and out -- no wonder your vignettes are always so awesome!

I think we are all "closet" hoarders :) No judging here....just nodding my head up and down, saying, you are not alone Kim....next Hoarders anonymous is at my house...refreshments served! ... Have a great weekend!

Now we know you are just like the rest of us! Honestly, isn't that what armoires are for? Isn't that what closets are for once your kids grow up and move out? Ha! You should see, (no, wait, you shouldn't), the closet in my craft room! I too try to be organized, but it isn't working too well.....I have a cupboard that needs reckoning....In fact, I think everyone has at least one place they need to reorganize....if not several.You are brave indeed to show us....thanks for showing us you are human!Nancywildoakdesigns.blogspot.com

Well no one is perfect. I recently re-did our bigger linen closet, but still haven't tackled the smaller one. Also need to reorganize one bedroom closet. I don't keep alot of "stuff". I will be keeping less as I am going through cleaning out my grandparents house right now! AGH!!! 50+ years worth! We store alot in our attic and basement. I put my outdoor cushions in huge (lawn/leaf) bags and send them to the basement LOL. We also invested in some of those rubbermaid cabinets for the garage and have shelving in the basement, so that helps. I'm not the most organized person, I'm sure, but if I don't have things somewhat organized, it really stresses me out.

KIm, when I read the post title I said to myself she's opening the treasure room where she keeps all her decorating stash. LOL you did that and more. It's so nice to have all those hiding spots, and it looks like you know right where everything is so as long as you can still close those doors who cares, your place always looks lovely.

Love you more now. Closets and cupboards were designed to have doors for a reason. I'm busy, and need my stuff. You are a girl after my own heart.. ( Visit any time just do not open that door) There is too much to stress about. closets being neat is not one of them

The organizing gene must have skipped me, too! Living in a small home with NO storage, I had to resort to using a storage building. But is it organized? Heck, no! But this may be the year I get it done!

Thank you Thank you for this post. I have followed your blog since the beginning and love each and every post. Even though I know that blogs are meant for inspiration and that every room is not perfect all the time, it is nice to see these kinds of posts sometimes. It was fun to look in those corners and see reminders of pillows and décor that I have loved in previous posts. Thank you again and I look forward to many more days of admiring your beautiful home!!

I loved your post! I'm always so inspired by your decorating and think where does she put all the extra stuff? You store it just like the rest of us :) I like to think of it as going "shopping" in my own house. Thanks for keeping it real!

Thank you, my dear friend! You have made me feel SOOOO much better about my own "enthusiasm for a surplus of decorating items" and you've even given me a couple of new "storage solutions" along the way. You're too cute.

So nice and brave of you to share this. Lots of us read your blog and aspire to have our spaces look as beautiful as yours. So knowing that your beautiful home holds these secrets makes us feel better about our own homes. Thank you!

Oh Kim I have a 5 bedroom house and guess what EVERY cupboard was crammed full of stuff. I have just cleared nearly all of them and stuff is piled up in the garage to give away and sell. The cupboards filled up over the last 20 years so you can imagine the amount of stuff. Embarrassing when folks come to stay.But not anymore. So you are NOT alone and brave to share with us.

Oh, I know about 20 years of stuff. Some of this is 20 years old and when we moved to this house we had 20 years of stuff in our first house. Lots of it never came in this house. It sat in the garage and then someone came and took it all. That's what I need now is for someone to just come get it.

Kim, now don't you feel better? LOL Now...deep breaths and moving forward. :-) People ask me the same thing "Where do you keep ALL your stuff?" And like you, I have found ingenious ways for storage. What helps is, about twice a year I do pull everything out to do a sort of inventory to make sure I don't have any doubles of things ( I am always surprised at what I actually have!) then at that time I re-organize. I also choose that time to switch things around. I just finished the other day going through all the framed artwork that I have and switched some things for display and then reorganized and stored neatly. It was fun and I felt like I had been thrift shopping! Anyway Love your "transparency" and honesty and most of all love your Blog (even more so now) :-)

Almost 20 years in this house and a back guest room and bath that only has a small path through it. I have to do something about it before April because I need to use it...I always have to have a big reason to accomplish stuff like that. No more excuses!

My bonus room used to be stuffed and I tackled it two years ago and it has slowly been getting filled back up, but I am going to tackle it before that happens. I want to paint that room so the stuff has to go.

My dad says we spend the first half of our lives gathering up stuff and the second half getting rid of it. I look around my house these days, after many trips to Goodwill and a half dozen fairly successful garage sales and.. you know what? He's right! .... again....

Your pictures made me feel better about all the stuff I've sifted and waded through these past few years. It gave me pleasure once, so I try not to feel guilty about all of it, but I don't know if I'll ever rid myself of that! Although, now that I think about it, that's not a bad idea, either. Ridding our minds of all the things we've hoarded there... thank you, thank you, thank you, Kim. I just had an epiphany.

Giggling over here!The picture of the first cabinet... yeah, I have one of those. And a large armoire stuffed full in the garage. I am a pretty organized person, but these 2 spaces just get away from me.Solution to my clutter problem ? A charity truck that does a curbside pickup every other month. A must!!

Great post, Kim! Made me laugh. I, too, have a lot of stuff hidden away, although I'm one of those uber-organized people, so it's all lined up like soldiers. Your mess is really not all that messy... :-) I actually have a guest closet that looks very similar... lol. We should do a blogger roundup of where we all keep our stuff. Would be pretty funny!

Thinking less and less of you? How about more and more? My guest room closet looks exactly like yours, and I've got stuff crammed everywhere, too. The basement is where the real problems lie! For the last couple of weeks, I have been going through stuff like crazy, donating and tossing tons of things. It feels so good! I think I slept better last night because I cleaned out my night table, lol! I decided that I'm not waiting till we move to get rid of stuff I really don't need. Thanks for sharing your stash!

What a relief! I thought I was the only one who risked head injuries very time I gingerly opened a closet. If you love to change decor and rotate items they have to go somewhere. You are so sweet to let us know , you face the same storage issues.

Kim, it's refreshing to see that you're a regular girl! No wonder you can come up with those great vignettes, you've got so many places filled with treasures! I've got stuff in hutches and closets that I need to go thru! Today, I think I'll go to the antique shop and add to my stash! HaLynn

I have a basement , so that is my hoarding spot. Ha! I have plans to organize it better, but we'll see. Ha! When we downsized we sold and gave away a lot of stuff, plus our house was looted before we had everything moved out. None of it was a good experience. No future plans to move again...until the old age home. Ha!

Haha how timely. Just yesterday I packed away my Halloween /fall clothes and Christmas clothes. Yes clothes, the shirts,sweaters and cute tees that have holiday designs on them. Monday I barley got my Christmas decorations put away. I had to buy new bins and I don't even have room in my garage anymore. I store all holiday decorations at my dads. But I had to since all my boxes fron a trip we took were delivered. We hit 6 states in the South for 3 weeks. Now I have More Stuff! I posted a pic of the stack of boxes on my Instagram . #barbaraannscreations It was like Christmas all over again. Problem, now where do I store it all.Your fine in my book.Barbara Ann PS What's the thing with the shades...I have it to. I change them out with the season. Or mood.

Oh Kim- you are SO not alone!As you know by the number of comments!Now doesn't that make you feel (normal) better!Catherinebtw- you have cool stuff that any of us would be happy to help you get rid of! ; D

This is so me! Any drawer, cabinet or closet that has room is stuffed with my stash of things I might need. When my grandmother passed away last year and we went into her home, she was exactly the same way. My sisters and I said we were going to take care of our messes before anyone saw them. My mom said she was just leaving hers for us to handle after she is gone!!

You crack me up! I think we all have our places to hide things. Right now I have to be careful when opening the closet door in my office or something might hit me in the head! You do have some fun stuff stashed away, Kim!Shelley

Yes, I think we all have places to hide stuff, but mine is overwhelming me and I don't like this feeling. Cleaned a ton out in the last few months especially clothing and kitchen stuff and dishes, but so much more to go through.

Treasures! As you are also! I have treasures too and will never be hauling them away because sure as heck . ..I'll be buying them back...so yes I have armoires, closets and buckets full! I will declare I've cleaned out clothes, kitchen, towels, and linens but DECOR stays! No shame!

I laughed when I saw how many comments this post has received because I'm pretty sure every decorating blogger out there is nodding their head in sisterly solidarity with you. I definitely have cupboards like yours, just on a smaller scale, and my poor husband is at his wits end over my throw pillows. What I think when I see your stash is that you're a professional home decorating blogger who needs some professional storage space. You don't have too much stuff, you're just trying to fit your business into your home, when what you really need is a small warehouse. Like Joanna Gaine's warehouse. She had to buy a whole silo to fit her stuff! You just need a small one... :)

Kim--so funny! I guess I am a hoarder as well! Both guest rooms (formerly my 35 y/o son's room, and my 39 y/o daughter's room)are home to everything from Halloween costumes (we still like to dress up) in the closet, a HUGE dresser which has all my random gifts that I buy (for Christmas,friends,gifts etc.)as I go along, enough wrapping paper to use for the next 10 years. I have a trunk full of various knick-knacks in my fam. room. And THEN, in our garage we have 4 of those wooden Ikea shelves with more stuff. I won't go into my china collections (14 at last count), hidden in several armoires, or linens. Fortunately, I am organized but it becomes a jigsaw puzzle to put things away! This post could become too long-winded if I were to get into those collections! BTW, I love those vacuum storage bags because I also have tons of pillows which I rotate around and they take up sooo much less room in the closet!! BTW--you are a mere fledgling when it comes to hoarding.

Well my mother in law passed away, then my husbands grandmother and then my mom...all within a year and a half! Which meant clearing out houses-and then we moved so our house needed emptying...at this point we are sorting/donating/throwing champs! And I still need to whittle down more...its just hard to let go of some of it but how much can we keep??? Although the good thing is this has made me much stricter about what I will let in to begin with! Lol I have told my uncle he isn't allowed to die until I recover from from all the clearing out we had to do so far! Thanks for sharing, it helps keep me focused on the end goal!

What a fun post! I love seeing your stash and how you store it! You could open a "pop-up shop" in your lovely home! I'm kind of an anti-hoarder so it's fun to see other people's stuff. I wish I was a little more in the middle!! lol!

Frequent redecorators like us have this problem for sure! I tackled mine by placing all my decorative (non-seasonal/holiday) stuff in one room! And I love "shopping" in it all the time now! Good luck and don't forget to give us your lovely tips and AFTER!

Oh honey, I know EXACTLY what you mean!!! I am a pretty organized person but when we moved here ther is LOUSY closet space. But we have alot of storage downstairs, it is just a mESS right now. Yesterday I did get alot purged and organized but I think it will take me all month to really get it all done and stuff to GW. I have to find a consignment store mearby!!! I never think of doing that. Thanks for the reminder!!!!

Oh my gosh you make me feel so much better! My husband keeps telling me I need to "cull" my stash. But you never know when you might need something again. My problem is I forget what I have-no senior moments here-ha! Thank you for showing there's others out there like me.

Why would I judge you? You just have a bigger house to stash things in. I have a stash, and it always ends up in my closets. I can clean it out and it will be okay for maybe a week. And then I'm in a hurry and just toss something in and off we go again. I don't take things to donate ate Goodwill, etc. I usually give things to neighbors here or Israel. I know if I wait too long I won't get rid of it. So sometimes I just walk it down to the dumpster and be done with it. We all have these places that get all cluttered up. I'm glad I don't have more room, because I know exactly what would happen! Brenda

Kim you are not alone! The stuff of five people piles up quickly! This is a breath of fresh air since even our favorite bloggers aren't perfect all the time (we envision y'all as being perfect!). Thanks for keeping it real!!

Looks like a good yard sale is in order! Ha ha! My "storage areas" look just the same...husband who is a little OCD is not happy! His motto...if you haven't used an item in over several years...out it goes!My response...define "several".....

I had accumulated so much that my husband got a 24 ft storage shed to fit holiday boxes & the gardening stuff. Then, I started collecting furniture pieces from Goodwill/Salvation Army that went in there. I also got more holiday stuff, so hubby purchased another 20 ft storage shed for just my holiday stuff. It is full! This year, I am going through all of the excess Christmas decorations that I haven't used in years and donating to our Holiday Home Tour group here in town. Of course, the other day, I was out and about and bought some more stuff for spring! YIKES! I think I'm a hoarder. HELP!!! LOL

Kim, you are definitely not alone. We live in an older home with very limited storage, so every armoire, chest, cabinet, closet, etc. is full of things. I did get organized last spring when I purged, packed and put a lot of things in storage, but that's not to say there isn't more to do around here. There definitely is! I need to tackle one closet at a time this winter. I began yesterday with our master bedroom closet. Bags of clothes are headed to the thrift store. '-)Good luck with your project. I keep telling myself that little drops fill the bucket. Just do one project a day. '-)

This all looks too familiar to me Kim. The only thing that helped was moving 2500 miles to a much smaller home...still I have to really watch myself. We've sold many things given & donated even more. It's a process...be gentle with yourself AND it will get better. Now I love the open spaces & even an occasional empty drawer...though I have to monitor my tendency to want to fill it up too.

Kim, thanks for the pictures and post. I'm so glad to know I'm not the only one. Those pictures could have been taken at my house except far worse. Every closet is jammed, plus 4 storage rooms and husband built a new storage shed 2 years ago when he retired. He won't let me loose in it yet! LOL

I appreciate your transparency....encouraged all the more. You have an amazing gift of making a home comfortable and beautiful. It gives me great pleasure and inspiration to follow your blog and I don't care one bit that you are a bit unorganized. I love your home...so beautiful! What a blessing :)

Great Post Kim..!! One of my favorite things about you is, how you swap your things in and out for different seasons or holidays. I want to be able to be more like that, my problem is I get things in place where I like them and then never move them around. Now I know I can stockpile like you and not feel guilty…….lol

Wow! I think you are so brave to show this! And we don't think less of you - at least I don't. My garage has been what I call the "dumping ground" for years now. Have never parked cars in there and never will! It looks like all your closets and bonus room combined. I have really turned a tide this year, though. I always wanted to get rid of it, but I felt like it would be such a waste of money (it's mostly collectibles or vintage that I could sell on ebay). However, just listing on ebay is sooo time consuming so there it sat. Then last month I read the book everyone is talking about, The Art of Tidying Up and it's changed my life, literally. I always wanted it cleaned up, but I never realized that all of that "visual clutter" is actually stressful so my husband and I have been cleaning like crazy. I've donated a ton, and now the last little bit (the most valuable) is waiting for a garage sale or consignment store. However, I've changed so much that even that bit sitting here the last week is bugging me so much that I am seriously considering just taking it to the salvation army. Just thinking about it all being cleared out makes me giddy!

You should read/borrow this book Kim! It is really life changing. There are a lot of "organizing" books but this one is so different in theory. She wants you to take every single thing you own and decide if it "brings joy." And let me tell you, not a lot of things pass that test! Wishing you luck with your clean out!

Sheila, I know it would make me giddy to get this stuff out of here that I will not use again. We took car loads in 2014 and again in 2015 and that felt so good. Then stuff comes in again and it is a vicious cycle. I am going to clean out much more this year.

Oh Kim - A post after my own heart - I spied some feathers in your sideboard - I LOVE feathers, & have to confess that I have 2 sideboards - one in the dining room & one in our conservatory with things I 'need' .... I'm afraid I am rather a china hoarder - so many beautiful patterns that I cannot resist & several inherited sets too ... Thank you for sharing, many of us can identify only too well!

I've often wondered where you talented designing bloggers put things when you change them out. I felt like a reject, not changing design more often like you do. I just don't have the space to put the overflow. But now, I don't feel so bad. What a relief! You made me feel so much better. Creative stashing is all I need to do. And maybe a little purging?

Yes, we all have a "not pretty" part of the house where everything looks like a mess and it's a shame, like our guest room! I love your antique pieces of furniture though.You made me laugh and while I scrawled down your post I saw my stash reflected in some of your pics, although I am quite organized! I guess we can't handle it all. Yes, I hope I can get my s--t together this year, lol!FABBY

My closets are very organized--they have to be as there are few and they are very small. My husband helped me organize shelving yesterday, so not an inch was wasted when we put the storage tubs back on them. Everything needs to go up! Shelving removes items that are taking real estate on the floors. Maybe that will help?

Several years ago I purged my home and shipped each child a box of belongings I had stored and moved twice. After my mother died, I acquired a lot more and had to get rid of some older unused things. Plus I also have a thrift shop or estate sale habit. I parted with a bunch of fabric and decorative items. What I miss in my present home is my wall of shelves in the basement where I could see everything. Recycling things was taught to me as a child and I make every season appear different each year. One thing I did this year was to put out like items and make a picture annotated as to location so I can shop from my computer (like my own Ebay)

I do the same thing Kim, cram things into cabinets and drawers because it's just easier when I change vignettes and things. I have stuff crammed in our storage area and almost every drawer and cupboard. Every couple of years I get the urge to organize and donate and I'm so proud of myself when I accomplish this task. It doesn't take long before the whole process of stuffing drawers and cabinets begins again. Hey, If I don't see it nor worries right?

I really love an organized home! It´s just that I´m not able to keep it longer than a day. Some areas never got organized ´til the end... For example my office. We call it our "Little Chamber of Horror" for it´s all chaotic, not enough space for stuff, a lot of things lay on the floor. It´s the room we normally throw everything into when we´re having guests... I hate it so much that I immediately get in very bad mood as soon as I enter that room. I often started to clear and organize the room but never succeeded. Sometimes I think it´s just an impression of the chaos in my mind! ;-)

I feel I've been exonerated and am tempted to send this post to some members (daughters) of my family who are very critical of Mom's stash! I do however see the wisdom in clearing out every few years. But not too much! Maybe just find new hiding places?

I feel your pain. I crave organization, but our house is just too small, or we have too much stuff. Every nook, cranny, cabinet, closet, etc., is stuffed. I'm also hoping to go room by room and get rid of some things this year. We shall see:-)

Miss Bailey

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